10/06 Update: Since we no longer write for the Edmond Sun, this section is temporarily housing our podcast links for our iTunes feed. All of the columns are in the archives menu if you feel like exploring.

These columns (as well as the 'releases') come from weekly content that we write for the Edmond Sun, out of Edmond, OK (though we live in Chicago). This page contains the archives for said column, many of which are in their pre-published, unedited state. Some titles and editing by Brendan Sinclair.

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Fall Preview 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Like it or not, the end of the current generation of gaming is fast approaching. Personally I think they could have stretched it out quite a bit more, as not every PS2 game looks like Ratchet & Clank and not every online game is organized as sensibly as Halo 2. But let's face it - with new hardware arriving everyone's gaze is slowly shifting, and developers are just doing the smart thing and keeping pace. And as much as I'd love to see people push things as far as they'll go on the current systems, I'd rather have a killer launch line-up for the PS3 than yet another round of Sony mascot games. With that said, there is still a final crapton of games coming out this fall/holiday season for one last sales huzzah. Sure, there are plenty of good sequels to be easily digested and well-enjoyed (Burnout Revenge, We Love Katamari, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, to name a few of the best), but my interest lies more with the folk pushing new ideas and unique properties. Just when you thought that you were left behind with your homely current-gen systems, here are a half dozen very promising, original games to look forward to over the next few months:

Battalion Wars - Gamecube - September 19th
Gamecube owners are quite familiar with the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" at this point, but I'd recommend this even during an unseasonably heavy flood of games (which once again, there is not). It's spiritually inspired by the much-beloved Advance Wars series on the GBA, but fully real-time battles take the place of lengthy turn-based strategy exercises. On the surface it looks like a cartoonish third-person military shooter, but before you know it you'll be commanding dozens of troops (battalions, even) from atop a tank while you shoot choppers out of the sky. Or vice versa, if you're lucky. Think Command and Conquer meets Mercenaries meets Nintendo aesthetic (cute and cuddly). No multiplayer is a bit of a bummer, but it should be a blast regardless.

Indigo Prophecy - PS2, Xbox - September 20th
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this very original adventure game. Besides the early rave reviews, it just sounds cool - people are randomly, senselessly killing each other in New York City, with no recollection why. You play as one of the killers, desperate to solve the mystery so you won't go to jail, as well as several other characters including a detective chasing your first character. It seems like a very interesting cat and mouse gameplay dynamic, especially since you're on both ends of it. There are lots of interesting touches - some of the more dramatic action scenes are played out as mini-games, requiring certain analog movement and timing to succeed. It's been a while since the last good adventure game, and I'm glad the genre is finally getting a bit of attention again.

Guitar Hero - PS2 - October 1st
Rhythm games aren't exactly a hugely popular genre (in the States, that is, I'd be executed in certain other countries for saying that), but Harmonix makes the very best. Frequency and Amplitude were both brilliantly addictive, and Karaoke Revolution is tons of fun for people who aren't afraid to stretch their lungs in public. Guitar Hero plays similarly to Amplitude, which has you playing along to scrolling icons corresponding to different parts of the song, the kicker being that it comes with a very cool guitar peripheral. I was able to get my hands on a very close to final product, and it's comfortable, responsive, and ridiculously fun to strum out your very best versions of David Bowie, Boston, Audioslave and a couple dozen others. It's a bit of an investment at $80, but it's not overpriced - a LOT of fun awaits you if you can stomach the cost.

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse - Xbox - October 17
We finally got our chance for revenge on those greedy, destructive humans in Destroy All Humans!, and now it's time to turn the table again, zombie-style. As Stubbs, you've got dozens of hilarious and useful powers at your disposal, including gut grenades, deadly "gas", throwing your disembodied hand to do recon and possess people, and the ability to control other zombies once your dead enemies have turned. You'll shamble along farms and through evacuated cities, leaving a trail of destruction and limbs. The possessions are especially entertaining, where, for example, as a farmer you can run over your coworkers in a crop thresher. The developer Wideload Studios was created by Alex Seropian (co-founder of Bungie, worked on the first Halo), so you know there's a lot of talent there. Combine that with some seriously funny design sensibilities and you've got a winner.

Shadow of the Colossus - PS2 - October 18th
Developed by the same team behind the cult-classic PS2 adventure masterpiece Ico, Colossus has some very high expectations brewing. From every screenshot I've seen and from what I've played through, it should exceed most of them. It's a gorgeous, incredibly epic game, which sees you battling massive, lumbering beasts to save the soul of a dying girl. Each Colossus presents a level in itself, as you must catch up to them on your horse, grab ahold somehow, and climb up their massive bodies to find their weak spot before you can finally bring them down. The visual design of everything is stunning, especially the massive plains that you must traverse on horseback to find the next beast. It's not a game for everyone, but those with a sense of adventure and a penchant for the artistic will find themselves utterly immersed and truly enthralled.

Bully - PS2, Xbox - October 24th
While I enjoy wanton destruction as much as the next guy, I'm not a huge fan of Rockstar's usually more sadistic, violent-for-the-sake-of-violence attitude towards game development (GTA, Max Payne, Manhunt). And while Bully, which puts you in the role of, well, a schoolyard bully, looks to be no less sadistic than it's pedigree, it's certainly not as dark and seems to fit the character really well. It's a generally open-ended affair wrapped around a core story with a bunch of side missions (sound familiar?), all based around the typical bully behavior you'd imagine (or are remembering with a tear running town your cheek) - picking on kids, arguing with teachers, trying to show off to the popular girls, whipping dodge balls unreasonably hard, etc. It's a brand-new frontier for video games (the schoolyard), and so far, it's looking like a lot of fun.

- Nick


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